Chapter Text
Watching janitors sweep the battle subway platform at 10PM from the air vents was not how Akari imagined her missions going when she and her brother Rei were recruited by the Galaxy Team.
Sure, the life of a borrower was always dangerous. Existence itself brought perils upon people as tiny and fragile as her kind, but Akari always longed for something more. Something beyond the safety of tunnels and scurried, worried vigilance.
Case and point: her current position hidden in the vents, staring at boring humans.
She thought that she’d finally get her opportunity to do more when she and Rei were brought to Jubilife, having been recovered from a destroyed colony by the Ginkgo Guild, and quickly put to work by the Galaxy Team. The death of their parents and entire colony didn’t dampen these feelings. If anything, she just felt a stronger urge to truly live . To be more than just a pest living in the crevasses of the world.
Unfortunately, being as young as they were, the siblings were not assigned to the scout or supply corps, but instead the survey corps. Too young to be a real borrower, but old enough to help support the colony. Especially now that so many stray borrowers were seeking sanctuary in Jubilife, brought by the Ginkgo Guild from destroyed colonies.
Akari looked forward to whenever the Guild passed through Jubilife, desperate for a glimpse of the outside world, even if it was through word of mouth. Many times she had considered leaving the village to join the band of traders, but Rei would never want to do something so dangerous, and Akari could never leave her brother behind. He was all the family she had left.
“I can hear you thinking over there.”
Speak of the devil.
Akari pulled herself from her musings to look over at her brother. Rei was stiff and alert, staring resolutely out of the ventilation grate and scribbling in his notebook.
“It’s distracting.” Rei continued, glancing over.
Akari scoffed, but smiled at her sibling.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot that it takes utmost concentration to watch the janitors.” She teased.
Rei huffed and went back to his notes, though he couldn’t hide his smile. “Survey work is important! Knowing the comings and goings of the humans is what keeps our supply scouts safe.”
“I know that, dummy.” Akari stuck her tongue out at her brother. Not that he could see it, being so absorbed in his notes. “I take our job seriously. It’s just so boring sometimes.”
“Boring is good for the colony.”
Akari sighed and gazed out through the grate slots. The ventilation system in the subway was located high in the walls and ceiling, giving them a convenient vantage point to observe from.
She knew her brother was right, but sometimes she wished something exciting would happen every once in a while. Maybe one day she would see a real Pokémon battle, not just glimpses through passing train windows. Her fascination with the creatures was practically unheard of for borrowers. Not even Rei shared her love for Pokémon. He was just as terrified of them as any other borrower.
Akari wished she were human, sometimes. Maybe then she could have her own Pokémon, and become a powerful trainer and battler like the many people she’s observed come and go through the Battle Subway. Though there were two trainers in particular she looked up to the most.
“Maybe we’ll see the Subway Bosses tonight.” She mused aloud.
Rei made a startled noise and looked over at her with wide eyes.
“I hope not!” He gasped, “that would mean a change in their schedule! I could only imagine what would happen if our scouts were caught off guard by those two .” Rei suppressed a shudder. “The regular commuters and depot agents are terrifying enough.”
Akari didn’t reply. She’d had this argument with Rei before. Call her naive, but she liked to think that Ingo and Emmet were good beans, despite how intimidating they were. She’d observed how kindly they treat their Pokémon, as if they were people too. Maybe they would treat a borrower the same if they were to ever discover one.
Akari knew better than to express these thoughts out loud. Such thinking would cause outrage within the colony. There was a reason her kind hid from humans. She, like any other borrower child, grew up being told frightening stories about what would happen if a borrower were to be found by a human.
A quick death was the best case scenario.
Survivors told of laboratories filled with unspeakable horrors, of traps meant for suffering and slow death, of being crushed, maimed, and even eaten by humans and Pokémon alike.
Entire colonies taken in the night, like her own. Like her parents.
Even still, Akari couldn’t let go of the fascination she held for Pokémon and humans, though to a lesser degree. It was a strange comfort. She wanted to see the good in the world. She didn’t want to be so afraid all the time.
Before her thoughts could continue down a darker path, Rei stood from his crouched position and stretched.
“Alright, the janitors are packing up. We should get going before the Bosses finish their rounds.” He said as he gathered up his notes and stowed them in the bag he had looped around his shoulders.
Akari nodded and stood as well, wincing and rubbing the feeling back into her legs. The cold metal floor of the vents were not the most pleasant to sit on for long periods of time, even to a young kid like her.
Rei waited patiently for his sister, though she knew he was anxious to leave as soon as possible. Akari didn’t understand why. The Subway Bosses always stuck to schedule, and they had plenty of time before they arrived at the platform. Still, she hurried to leave with Rei as soon as she was ready.
The walk through the vents was quiet, for the most part. The lack of light didn’t bother them. Darkness meant safety for a borrower, what with their keen sense of smell and eyesight even in the dark. The ventilation system of the subway was a maze of tunnels, but the two had their usual routes memorized after months of living here.
You’d think a large colony of tiny people wouldn’t go unnoticed in a place like the Nimbasa subway- filled with bustling humans and Pokémon nearly all hours of the day- but you’d be wrong. Thanks to the Galaxy Team’s hyper vigilance, the colony was strong as ever despite operating there in secret for many years.
Being underground protected them from wild Pokémon, as the staff kept the place clean and deterred pests as best they could. The abandoned station where the village was located was inaccessible to the human public, even to the depot agents, having been bricked off years ago. The remaining ventilation system provided easy access to the rest of the subway, making Jubilife a central hub of sorts for the borrower colonies of Nimbasa.
The subways weren’t just used by people and Pokémon, but borrowers as well. They were used mainly by the Ginkgo Guild, trading news and goods to colonies all across the city. Despite their efforts, communication between colonies was still sluggish, and food still scarce.
The glint of something shiny out of the corner of her eye brought Akari from her musings. Looking around, she realized that she and Rei were already making the trek across the empty platform out in the open. Akari was glad her brother hadn’t noticed her inattentiveness, or else she’d be getting an earful. This was a dangerous leg of their journey back to Jubilife, and any good borrower would be on high alert so out in the open.
Akari, however, was not a good borrower.
“Rei, look!” She whispered loudly, pointing at the object that caught her attention in the first place.
Rei immediately tensed and dropped into a crouch, head spinning around to spot a threat. “What is it? Beans?!”
Instead of answering, Akari scurried off of their usual straight path across the platform. She ignored her brother’s hissing of her name easily due to many years of practice. It wasn’t long before she reached her prize and hefted the object up for Rei to see.
“A battery!” Akari whisper-yelled triumphantly, waving the cylinder of metal around. “I wonder how the janitors missed it? Doesn’t the professor need one for a project he’s been working on?”
Rei caught up to her, red-faced.
“Are you insane!?” He hissed, eyes darting to and fro. “A stupid battery isn’t worth risking our lives!”
Akari blew a raspberry and waved off her brother’s insistent tugging at her.
“We’re still totally on schedule, Rei! The bosses aren’t due to arrive at the platform for another ten minutes!”
Rei looked just about ready to scream, but sucked in a deep breath through his nose and let it out slowly. Akari’s grin only grew, knowing when she'd won.
“Fine.” Rei sighed, “fine fine fine, we can take the battery! But we need to hurry.”
Akari nodded, still grinning. Rei growled and gave her a half-playful shove in the direction of the vent they needed to enter on the other side of the platform. Now holding her prize, Akari happily jogged along behind her brother without complaint.
Rei grumbled in front of her, not quite stomping- borrowers don’t stomp- but definitely in a huff. Akari knew she’d be getting an earful before bed.
Totally worth it.
Unfortunately for the two young borrowers, they’d failed to conduct their safety checks, so caught up in feeling smug, or angry, in Rei’s case.
It wasn’t until it was right upon them that the two even noticed the telltale sound of skittering and electrical buzzing that accompanied a certain common Battle Subway pest.
Akari spotted it first, a little joltik jauntily headed their way. For a moment she was enraptured. Joltiks were one of the smallest Pokémon in existence. Perfect for a borrower like her! Maybe it would allow her to train it? She’d seen these little guys around the subway before, and Subway Boss Emmet seemed especially fond of the bugs. If such a powerful trainer like him was interested in something so tiny, maybe he would like he-
Akari’s amazed staring was cut off by her brother’s alarmed yelp, followed by the feeling of his hand wrapping around her wrist in a vice grip. That was all the warning she got before Akari was being dragged off her feet.
“ RUN! ”
Ah. Looks like Rei spotted the Pokémon too.
Akari reluctantly sprinted off after her brother, though she would much rather try to greet the joltik. It seemed friendly!
A glance back to catch one last glimpse of the Pokémon made Akari realize that it was pursuing them, fluffy legs nearly a blur in its haste and four blue eyes glittering in the dim light. Despite her earlier elation, the sight only proved to remind her that the ‘tiny’ electric bug was still bigger than she was, and infinitely more powerful. As adorable as it had seemed, seeing it chasing her and her brother now made Akari feel nothing but dread. Rei must’ve also seen, because he let out another shriek and yanked harder at Akari’s wrist.
“DROP THE BATTERY!”
Battery? Oh! Akari remembered that Joltiks could not produce their own electricity, and loved to consume it through other sources. Such as a battery. Maybe it wasn’t actually chasing them ? Maybe the little guy just wanted the battery!
With all her might, the girl chucked the heavy metal cylinder to the side, where it rolled away from them.
The joltik chittered in what Akari thought sounded like excitement, and she hoped that it took the bait. They could easily make it to the vents while it was snacking on the battery.
Another glance over her shoulder dashed those hopes, however.
The joltik was still in hot pursuit, having ignored the battery entirely.
That… did not bode well for them.
Akari remembered being told countless times that there was usually only one reason for a Pokémon to chase a borrower. Hunger. If the joltik wasn’t hungry for electricity, then it was definitely hungry for food. Suddenly the lessons the Galaxy team attempted to hammer into her Pokémon-loving head rang true.
To a Pokémon, a borrower was nothing more than a tasty morsel. Not a partner. Not a trainer. Not even a person. Food. That’s all she was to these creatures. No amount of optimism and hope would change that.
And now Rei was paying the price of her ignorance.
Feeling the burn of tears behind her eyes, Akari looked away from the spider to face her brother, still pulling her forward. She opened her mouth to apologize for dragging him into this mess, but the moment Akari looked over Rei’s shoulder, she saw nothing but yawning darkness a mere foot in front of them. Akari shouted in alarm and dug her heels into the floor, yanking her brother back as she did. They both tripped and tumbled to a halt in a tangle of limbs.
The sheer drop to the tracks was immense to a borrower. Not to mention the fact that the metal rails were electrified.
They’d both nearly ran headfirst to their deaths.
And the joltik was still coming.
The two spun around at the same time to face the (now) more urgent threat. Akari could feel Rei trembling beside her, mirroring her own shudders. They were trapped.
The joltik slowed as it came closer, but they both knew running in either direction would be pointless. The yellow spider chittered at them, pedipalps waving excitedly. Akari tried not to flinch at the little sparks of electricity arcing between them. Just one dose of that would be enough to end her life.
It seemed Rei was thinking the same thing, because Akari suddenly found herself being shoved behind him. Her brother stood tall in front of her, despite his increased trembling, and faced down the approaching Pokémon.
“G-Get away!” He shouted as loudly as he could, waving his arms threateningly in the hopes that the spider would be deterred.
It was pointless, however, because the Joltik simply moved closer. Rei froze up, and Akari could easily hear the frantic pounding of his heart from her position against his back. She leaned to the side, peeking around her brother, and had to stifle a gasp. The joltik was so much bigger this close up. How could she have thought that it being one of the smallest Pokémon would make any difference when Borrowers would always be the most vulnerable thing on this earth.
The joltik chittered again, and slowly, teasingly, extended a leg toward Rei. His muscles bunched up so tightly that Akari spared them a worried thought. Just before the spider’s leg could make contact, Rei broke out of his frozen state. He shouted in alarm, and smacked the yellow furred limb away in a panic.
The joltik made a high-pitched noise and flinched back, fur fluffing up. Sparks danced across its back, and Akari could only watch in horror as one jumped from its still-extended leg. Right toward Rei.
It all happened in a split second. One moment Rei was standing tall in front of her, and the next he was convulsing on the ground.
The Joltik finally retreated fully, putting enough distance between them that Akari felt safe enough to rush to her brother’s side. Tears were already falling from her eyes before she fell to her knees beside him.
“No no no no , Rei!”
Akari frantically grabbed at her sibling, who had stopped convulsing and instead lay eerily still. She could feel lingering electricity in his body sting at her fingertips, but she paid it no mind as she desperately felt for a pulse. When she did find it, it was weak and irregular. Akari gathered Rei into her arms, but his dead weight was too much for her to carry, so she just sat with him against her, rocking back and forth. She had no idea what to do. There was no one around who could help, and she had no training for this situation.
Never before had she felt so… helpless. Tiny. Insignificant.
Akari caught a flash of yellow through her tear-blurred vision, and quickly blinked away the moisture. The joltik was still there, crawling toward them again. It’s body was low to the ground, belly fur scraping the tiles, ready to pounce upon its now incapacitated prey.
Despite every stealth lesson the Galaxy Team had repeatedly given her, Akari defied her instincts in that moment.
She screamed.
As loud as her helpless, tiny, insignificant self could.